'Seat Time' outside of Logan Land ………….

Stopped at a dealer this week to listen to the much regarded Bryston 'Flagship' floor standing Model T speakers. While they were 'nice' I was basically underwhelmed overall, they just had little to no life at what I call realistic listening levels. A trait I find quite often on less expensive 'box speakers'.

Now what came next took me by surprise……. the dealer who represents Harmon had a pair of JBL Synthesis Project Array 1400 which 'caught my eye' (I say this because they are rather strange looking with their vertically aligned 'horn')

http://www.jblsynthesis.com/productdetail/id-1400-array.html

My listening time with them was not as long as would have liked (I'm going back in the next week or two) but what I heard I really liked, to the best of my knowledge this is the first time I've heard a Sub 15k non-planar speaker that rivaled my current set-up. As for the 'red headed step child' looks ……… well, I do like red heads !

Stay tuned …………… anyone else have experience with these ??

Last week I drove an hour north and picked up my new preamp. When i arrivedI found myself staring at a pair of 8' PipeDreams with subs driven by 6-8 pieces of Mark Levinson equipment.

I have always been curious with this line array so, while we were chatting about audio stuff I sat down on the couch and ------- nothing. There was a tall narrow image and nothing more. There had to be something wrong with the setup.

Hope I get a chance to hear another pair in the future

Dave, I heard a couple JBL horn speaker systems at RMAF in 2014 and thought they sounded great! Sometimes change, just for the sake of change can be a good thing.

No experience with the JBL's but I am told the Japanese think
its an obnoxious speaker I guess because what it looks like?

Interesting. I looked at the woofer and it reminded me of the old jbl back in the late 70s. Which then reminded me of my old infinity quantum 5 speakers. Man I loved those things

After getting my Ethos last year, I finally had enough and decided my office computer speakers needed to be replaced. I just got a pair of bi-amped near field monitors that I installed last night that are mounted to the wall in front of my desk and tilted towards me.

To be fair, they will mostly be played at very low volumes while I work, but when I played them I noticed a few things immediately.

1. They don't hold a candle to my Ethos, but they sound quite warm and can be pleasing at times.
2. The music I have that isn't as well recorded sounds noticeably better with their added distortion.
3. The music that is extremely well recorded and sounds fantastic on my Ethos feels heavy on these speakers.
4. Folded ribbon tweeters can do a pretty decent job keeping things clear.

I came away re-evaluating some things.
I understand how tubes add a little THD richness which can be very pleasing to some people and some speakers can do the same thing.

What I'm hearing is that certain music sounds better with a fixed level of added richness and other music sounds worse.

That makes me wonder what kinds of digital music shaping tools we have that might allow me to add a VARIABLE amount of "richness" for music that benefits from it while lowering or using none for other music.

Ideally I could associate a filter with my individual music files so they would be played automatically with whatever help I thought they needed.

twich54 said:

Stay tuned …………… anyone else have experience with these ??

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Dave some years ago to be exact May 10, 2010 Stereophile magazine ran a review of the JBL Synthesis 1400 Array BG loudspeaker. I used to have this magazine before I distributed my old HiFi magazines to interested acquaintances.

Dave, I checked, this review is available online at Stereophile magazine website.

Enjoy and best wishes my friend.

Ok, so today I had a listen (albeit in not the best room set up) to a pair of Revel F208's and what I heard amazed me. They performed at a level well beyond their price point and then some. Yes I know their cabinets are sourced off shore, helping to keep costs down but at 5k msrp they are the darlings of affordable 'box' speakers IMO. Do they rival the Salon 2's ………. of course not, but at less than a fourth of the price …………..WOW !

I'm looking forward to listening to a pair of the Studio 2's, they might just be the sweet spot in which I wonder away from M/L ………….. but then I need to get back for a prolonged session with the JBL's as well ……….

twich54 said:

Ok, so today I had a listen (albeit in not the best room set up) to a pair of Revel F208's and what I heard amazed me. They performed at a level well beyond their price point and then some. Yes I know their cabinets are sourced off shore, helping to keep costs down but at 5k msrp they are the darlings of affordable 'box' speakers IMO. Do they rival the Salon 2's ………. of course not, but at less than a fourth of the price …………..WOW !

I'm looking forward to listening to a pair of the Studio 2's, they might just be the sweet spot in which I wonder away from M/L ………….. but then I need to get back for a prolonged session with the JBL's as well ……….

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You're gonna wander off the ML path... ?

Joey_V said:

You're gonna wander off the ML path... ?

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Joey, every 3-5 years I go on a 'listening expedition' and I've yet to hear anything at or near the price point of what I have that would make me want to wander from planar / electrostatics to which I have been listening to for the past 30 plus years.

Now , with that being said, one never knows ……………. Those Revel F208's were real good, I'm hoping to get a listen to the Studio 2's and I'm going to sit down for an extended listen to the JBL synthesis 1400's hopefully later this week. I've touched base with the dealer in NJ that sold me my Plinius who happens to be a Vandersteen dealer and I'm going to try and get over for a listen of the 'Quatro Wood CT's' …………… stay tuned !

I have not heard the carbon tweeters but the standard Quatro's I could live with very easily. They were stunning. Enjoy you listening time Dave.

twich54 said:

Joey, every 3-5 years I go on a 'listening expedition' and I've yet to hear anything at or near the price point of what I have that would make me want to wander from planar / electrostatics to which I have been listening to for the past 30 plus years.

Now , with that being said, one never knows ……………. Those Revel F208's were real good, I'm hoping to get a listen to the Studio 2's and I'm going to sit down for an extended listen to the JBL synthesis 1400's hopefully later this week. I've touched base with the dealer in NJ that sold me my Plinius who happens to be a Vandersteen dealer and I'm going to try and get over for a listen of the 'Quatro Wood CT's' …………… stay tuned !

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Dave, i do not care much for the JBL sound. Not heard Revel. Vandersteen i heard very long time ago for a very brief period. The dealer also carried Shahinian Acoustic loudspeakers.

From what i heard nearly 2 decades ago the Shahinian sounded far superior to the Vandersteens. If your Vandersteen dealer carries Shahinian Acoustic speakers. I highly recommend the Arc and Obelisk. Give them a try you might be pleasantly surprised.

Interesting speaker……………….. http://www.daedalusaudio.com/Argos.html

Has anyone heard it ? RMAF by chance ?

The truth is that there are many great speakers out there. I probably heard those (Argos) at RMAF, but I can't recall their sound, nor do I remember them. They sure look nice. Inexpensive speakers I do remember however, are some made by Spatial. The ones that I really liked were right at $3K, if I remember correctly, but he has made even less expensive speakers since. http://www.spatialaudio.us

Dave, thought I'd add a link to a review one of the guys in our audio club did on the Spatial m4's.
https://stevefolberg.wordpress.com/2016/02/16/world-premiere-review-the-spatial-hologram-m4/

Hey Big Guy, what's the latest on your adventures outside of Logan land?

Gordon Gray said:

Hey Big Guy, what's the latest on your adventures outside of Logan land?

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This Thur I plan on an extended listen to Revel Salon and Studio 2's. Perhaps a pair of Spire's may be for sale in the near future ..............

Spent some serious time with Revel today.......again. This time the Ultima series Salon 2's, I think I'm smitten. The dealer did not have the Studio 2's to listen to but claims they are 85% of the Salon's. If that's the case I've got a serious decision to make. To my ears the Revel's are some of the best if not the best (at their price points) that I've heard, they simply do everything right. The overall dynamics and 'attack' on percussion is noticeably better than my Logans and Piano, to which I hold martin Logan in very high regard is of equal ........ or dare I say slightly better !

I will be pondering this decision over the next week or so .............

twich54 said:

Spent some serious time with Revel today.......again. This time the Ultima series Salon 2's, I think I'm smitten. The dealer did not have the Studio 2's to listen to but claims they are 85% of the Salon's. If that's the case I've got a serious decision to make. To my ears the Revel's are some of the best if not the best (at their price points) that I've heard, they simply do everything right. The overall dynamics and 'attack' on percussion is noticeably better than my Logans and Piano, to which I hold martin Logan in very high regard is of equal ........ or dare I say slightly better !

I will be pondering this decision over the next week or so .............

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Sooo.. whats the verdicts, Pops?

Joey_V said:

Sooo.. whats the verdicts, Pops?

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Joey, about to 'pull the pin' ............should have a pair of Studio 2's by month's end.

twich54 said:

Joey, about to 'pull the pin' ............should have a pair of Studio 2's by month's end.

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Excellent stuff time for a change Dave